Sundance Film Review: ‘Hal and Harper’
“Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion,” says Dolly Parton’s character in the 1989 film “Steel Magnolias,” and when viewers watch “Hal and Harper,” which made its debut at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, they’ll find themselves agreeing with these words.
“Hal and Harper” is a multi-dimensional series that delves into family dynamics with a unique execution. The premise of the series starts with siblings Hal and Harper’s father, played by Mark Ruffalo, who discovers his girlfriend is pregnant. It being a geriatric pregnancy, the couple is quickly faced with complications. Already being a father to two 20-somethings, this inspires a lot of reflection for Ruffalo’s unnamed character throughout the series, especially regarding a mysterious event that resulted in the loss of his wife and kids’ mom.
Meanwhile, the story also follows Hal as he navigates love and the future in his senior year of college as well as his relationship with his sister Harper, who is struggling post-grad with her complicated relationship, career and identity.
A unique stand-out of the series is how Hal and Harper, in flashbacks to childhood, are still portrayed by their respective adult actors. They are dressed as themselves as kids and partake in kids’ activities, such as school or going to amusement parks. It is this nonsensical but well-executed concept that makes “Hal and Harper” stand out.
This way of storytelling created a lot of laughs, such as when Harper sits in her childhood bedroom and smokes a cigarette out the window while giving her younger brother advice on navigating first grade. Harper’s character even as a child is portrayed to be mothering Hal often.
It is clear the stylistic choice of using the adult actors was made to explain due to the loss of their mother, Hal and Harper were forced to grow up faster than intended. Harper, played by Lili Reinhart, is a reflection of oldest daughters everywhere. Her independence and empathy are relatable and beautifully portrayed as she seeks to navigate life as a young queer woman without a maternal figure in her life.
College students who would rather go cliff-diving than be confronted with post-grad life will find themselves in Hal. His “Peter Pan” syndrome is what makes for a good time throughout the heavy life lessons contained within the first four episodes of the series. It is also shown he is not all he appears to be on the surface as he struggles to figure out what he wants in life and love.
As Hal and Harper are confronted with the life changes that come with their father having a third child, they take viewers back in time to both before and after their mother’s disappearance. It is clear they, as siblings, have had to learn to rely on each other in a way that will have audiences tearing up.
Their mom is shown rarely, but when she is on screen, she completely dazzles the audience in a raw and unapologetic way. The warmth she brings to the family is felt through the screen, and the absence of it is felt even more so, like a storm cloud hanging over the series.
By showcasing something far from perfect, the realism of “Hal and Harper” truly reached the hearts of the weeping audience at Sundance. A viewing that only showcased the first four episodes of the series most definitely left the audience wanting to know more.